1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for inhibiting the formation, deposition and adherence of alkaline earth metal scale deposits, especially calcium carbonate (CaCO.sub.3) scale deposits, on metallic surfaces of aqueous systems, especially under conditions of high pH and high calcite concentration, e.g., those found in cycled up cooling systems, where those compositions are polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate N-oxides.
Generally, calcium carbonate scale deposits are incrustation coatings which accumulate on the metallic surfaces of a water-carrying system through a number of different causes.
Various industrial and commercial water-carrying systems are subject to calcium carbonate scale formation problems. Calcium carbonate scale is of particular concern in heat exchange systems employing water, such as, for example, boiler systems, and once-through and open recirculating water cooling systems. Cooling towers are especially significant, particularly where severe conditions, including high pH and high calcite concentrations are encountered.
The water employed in these systems ordinarily will contain a number of dissolved salts, and the alkaline earth metal cation calcium is usually prevalent, as is the anion carbonate. The combination product of calcium cation and carbonate anion will precipitate from the water in which they are carried to form scale deposits when the concentration of the anion and cation comprising the reaction product, i.e., calcium carbonate, exceeds the solubility of the reaction product itself. Thus, when the concentrations of calcium ion and carbonate ion exceed the solubility of the calcium carbonate reaction product, a solid phase of calcium carbonate will form as a precipitate. Precipitation of the reaction product will continue until the solubility product concentrations of the constituent ions are no longer exceeded.
Numerous factors may be responsible for producing a condition of supersaturation for the reaction product calcium carbonate. Among such factors are changes in the pH of the water system, evaporation of the water phase, rate of heat transfer, amount of dissolved solids, and changes in the temperature or pressure of the system.
For cooling systems and similar heat exchange systems including cooling towers, the mechanism of scale formation is apparently one of crystallization of scale-forming salts from a solution which is locally supersaturated in the region adjacent the heating surface of the system. The thin viscous film of water in this region tends to become more concentrated than the remainder of the solution outside this region. Precipitation is also favored on the heat transfer surface because of the inverse solubility relationship of calcium carbonate. As a result, the solubility of the scale-forming calcium carbonate salt reaction product is first exceeded in this thin film, and crystallization of calcium carbonate scale results directly on the heating or heat exchange surface.
In addition to this, a common source of scale in boiler systems is the breakdown of calcium bicarbonate to form calcium carbonate, water and carbon dioxide under the influence of heat. For open recirculating cooling water systems, in which a cooling tower, spray pond, evaporative condenser, and the like serve to dissipate heat by evaporation of water, the chief factor which promotes calcium carbonate scale formation is concentration of solids dissolved in the water by repeated evaporation of portions of the water phase. Thus, even a water which is not scale forming on a once-through basis usually will become scale forming when concentrated two, four, or six times. Moreover, alkalinity of the makeup water, with evaporative cycles over time results in an increasing alkalinity of the water in the overall system, often reaching pH's of 8.5-9.5 and even higher. Conventional scale inhibiting compositions typically fail in systems having such severe conditions.
The formation of calcium carbonate scale deposits poses a serious problem in a number of regards. The calcium carbonate scale which is formed possesses a low degree of heat conductivity. Thus, a calcium carbonate scale deposit is essentially an insulating layer imposed across the path of heat travel from whatever source to the water of the system. In the case of a cooling system, the retarded heat transfer causes a loss in cooling efficiency. In addition to this problem, calcium carbonate scale formation facilitates underdeposit corrosive processes, and a substantial calcium carbonate scale deposit will interfere materially with fluid flow. Consequently, calcium carbonate scale is an expensive problem in many industrial water systems, causing delays and shutdowns for cleaning and removal.
Although the present invention is directed primarily to preventing or inhibiting the deposition of calcium carbonate scale, the most prevalent type of scale deposit, it is also applicable to inhibiting the deposition of other types of alkaline earth metal scales, especially where those are associated with calcium carbonate scale under the severe conditions described herein. For example, most industrial and commercial water contains alkaline earth metal cations, such as calcium and magnesium, and several anions such as bicarbonate, carbonate, and phosphate. When combinations of these anions and cations are present in concentrations which exceed the solubility of their reaction products, precipitates form until their product solubility concentrations are no longer exceeded. These precipitates are alkaline earth metal scales. Thus, by alkaline earth metal scales is meant scales including but not limited to calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and calcium phosphate. These scales form frequently in the tubes of heat exchangers and on other heat exchange surfaces, such as those in cooling towers. Particular systems or applications areas where severe conditions lead to exceptional buildup of calcium carbonate and related scales, in addition to cycled up cooling towers, include reverse osmosis systems, sugar refining evaporators, and certain types of gas scrubbers.
The polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate N-oxides of the present invention are used in the same range of amounts as threshold inhibitors in the scale inhibition method of the present invention, rather than as sequestering or chelating agents, although the compositions of the present invention have dispersant properties as well and significantly reduce the adherency of any scale deposit which is formed, facilitating its easy removal.
Scale-forming compounds can be prevented from precipitating by inactivating their cations with chelating or sequestering agents, so that the solubility of their reaction products is not exceeded. Generally, this requires many times as much chelating or sequestering agent as cation, since chelation is a stoichiometric reaction, and these amounts are not always desirable or economical. However, several decades ago, it was discovered that certain inorganic polyphosphates would prevent such precipitation when added in amounts far less than the concentrations needed for sequestering or chelating.
When a precipitation inhibitor is present in a potentially scale-forming system at a markedly lower concentration than that required for sequestering the scale-forming cation (stoichiometric), it is said to be present in "threshold" amounts. See, for example, Hatch and Rice, Indust. Eng. Chem., 31, 51-53 (1939); Reitemeier and Buehrer, J. Phys. Chem., 44 (5), 535-536 (1940); Fink and Richardson U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,222; and Hatch, U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,305.
Similarly, anionic and cationic polymers can be used as dispersants in accordance with methods known in the art, but the dosage levels necessary to achieve dispersion are in the range of 0.5-1.0% by weight of the system being treated, which is many orders of magnitude higher that the dosage levels used for the compositions of the present invention. Thus, it is a unique aspect of the present invention that it is possible to achieve essentially non-adherent scale using only threshold inhibitor dosage levels of the compositions of the present invention.
Recently, attention has been focused on controlling scaling under severe conditions, where conventional treatments such as those described above do not provide complete scale control. Current technology in scale control can be used to inhibit CaCO.sub.3 scale up to 100 to 120 times calcite saturation, i.e., a water containing Ca.sup.2+ and CO.sub.3.sup.2- present at 100 times (100.times.) their solubility limit. However, what is desired are inhibitors effective in greater than 150.times. water, especially in greater than 250.times. water, and more especially in greater than 300.times. water, i.e., where the calcite ions can be prevented from precipitating as calcium carbonate scale using substoichiometric amounts of an inhibitor. The compositions of the present invention are especially useful under severe conditions characterized by a calcite saturation level of 150.times. and above, especially 250.times. and above, and more especially 300.times. and above, as defined in the paragraph immediately below.
Severity of the scaling tendency of a water sample is measured using the saturation index, which may be derived in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU1## where SI is the saturation index for calcium carbonate, [Ca.sup.2+ ] is the concentration of free calcium ions, [CO.sub.3.sup.2- ] is the concentration of free carbonate ions, and .sup.K spCaCO.sub.3 is the conditional solubility product constant for CaCO.sub.3. All of the quantities on the right side of the above equation are adjusted for pH, temperature and ionic strength.
Calculation and use of the saturation index, and generation of the data from which it is derived, are matters within the skill of the art. See, for example, Critical Stability Constants, Vol. 4: "Inorganic Complexes", Smith & Mantell (1976), Plenum Press; and Aquatic Chemistry, Chap. 5, 2nd ed., Stumm & Morgan (1981), Wiley & Sons.
Another characteristic feature of the severe conditions under which the scale controlling compositions of the present invention are especially useful is high pH, i.e. a pH of 8.5 and higher, particularly a pH of 9 or 10 or even higher. A related feature of such severe conditions is high alkalinity.
One of the particular advantages of the scale inhibiting compositions of the present invention is the exceptional calcium tolerances which they exhibit. Calcium tolerance is a measure of a chemical compound's ability to remain soluble in the presence of calcium ions (Ca.sup.2+). One of the parameters of scale control under severe conditions is pH. As pH increases, calcium tolerance decreases rapidly for traditional CaCO.sub.3 threshold inhibitors, e.g., 1-hydroxy ethylidene 1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) and amino tri(methylene phosphonic acid) (AMP). These inhibitors precipitate with calcium at alkaline pH's, rendering them useless as threshold scale inhibitors. While it is common practice to use an acid feed to the water of, e.g., a cooling tower system in order to lower pH and thus avoid the calcium tolerance problem for conventional inhibitors, the danger to handlers which such acid feeding poses makes it all the more important to find scale inhibitors which operate at high pH's.
Another advantage of the scale inhibiting compositions of the present invention is their ability to maintain a level of resistance to degradation by oxidizing biocides which is sufficient to ensure adequate scale inhibition at dosing levels within the ranges herein described. This is of particular importance in cooling systems such as those using cycled up cooling towers. Such systems maintain a large body of water for a considerable length of time exposed to the atmosphere under conditions which do not include sufficient aeration and exposure to sunlight to provide control of microbial, especially bacterial and fungal, growth. Unchecked, such microorganisms flourish and produce colonies extensive enough to give rise to problems of biofilm blockage of heat exchange surfaces, and clogging of the components of the water transporting apparatus used in operating the cooling system.
Such problems of unwanted microbial growth in a cooling system are usually solved by use of an oxidizing biocide, especially chlorine or bromine, since these are inexpensive, effective, and produce minimal environmental impact. However, as is well known, such oxidizing biocides also tend to degrade scale inhibitors containing a N,N-bis(phosphonomethylene) group, presumably by oxidative attack on the nitrogen atom of the group. It has been found that the polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate N-oxides of the present invention offer significant resistance to such degradation, and that they will continue to provide scale inhibition when dosed in accordance with the ranges set out herein.
It is also a surprising attribute of the N-oxides of the present invention that, even though they provide unacceptably low scale inhibition with aqueous systems having normal conditions and scaling tendencies, they provide an unexpectedly high level of scale inhibition protection in aqueous systems characterized by the severe conditions of high pH, high calcite concentration, etc., and having severe scaling tendencies, as described in detail further herein. It was wholly unexpected that compounds having that attribute, would also provide resistance to degradation by oxidizing biocides as well, under the severe conditions and scaling tendencies just described.